Every Camaro produced, at least every Z28 not sure about the V6 cars, in '97 was an "anniversary" edition, so that means nothing.

 

There was a "Heritage Edition" i.e. white with orange strips, but I think it was only a cosmetic package.

 

96/97 SLP SS. Factory Rated around 310 crank or about 265 RWHP. While the non-SS rated about 285 or about 243 RWHP.

The LT4 was rated around 330 at the crank or about 280 RWHP
I doubt that anyone in their right mind would get rid of an Lt4.

Anyhoo, I doubt that your going find an Lt4 car or engine easily.

The "Aniversary" model was painted white and orange, even though all camaros built in 97 would technically be a 30 aniversary Camaro since the first Z28 came out in 1967.

 

wow! I didn't expect this many replies this quickly!

The old car is long gone. He blew the motor and basically gave the body away. So basically, what I've gathered is that any SS model will probably feel about like the one he had. He bought a '01 but sold it because it was noticably slower. How anybody could forget they had an SS is beyond me, but it's possible. He IS getting pretty old...

If it were me, I'd do bolt ons and soup it up a little (not much because let's face it, a convertible is not a racecar platform) but my buddy is old and has trouble getting around and definitely cannot take bending over the hood of such a low car for extended periods of time!

You guys have helped out immensely!

Thanks!

 

An '01 Z28/SS?...should be noticable faster than a '97 Z28.

 

no just a z28. I assume it was a z28. it had a v8 in it.
it was also a third hand car that had been through two frat boys.
The whole thing is he's convinced that 97 was pushing almost 400 hp, with no mods at all. I think he's confused, I think what he means nothing else has the same TORQUE. because without ever having it dyno'ed, there's really no way to know what a particular car is actually putting to the street.

so... if he were to get any camaro that had a baseline hp rating of ...what? say 280? 300? (I dont know what camaros run stock) and you bought one of those handheld tuners; if you tweaked the engine and fuel settings as much as possible without throwing codes to activate the MIL and you adjusted the shift points... how much of an improvement could be had out of one of these?

 

A handheld tuner is a waste of time. Have the PCM reprogrammed for half the cost and actually pick up some power.

 

He must be going senile. It was not 400hp with no mods, chips do didly squat, and an 01 z28 should be just as fast as a 97 ss, the only way the 01 z28 would be noticable slower was if it was in disrepair. If I were him, I would just get an 01-02 SS and just live with the fact that it IS faster than the 97 SS he had.

 

My brother lost the article but they compared the 97 Camaro to a DOHC 97 Cobra and they voted the Camaro as the fastest and greatest. They said that the LT1 SS had way more then 305 HP they said that they think that model had around 325- 330 HP. And it wasn't the LT4. Just a 97 LT1. The mag was from late 1996 or early 1997. I raced my buddy Dan after work and the DOHC sounds nasty but my LT1 walked past him on the highway and he said nothing to our boss after that.

 

Only 100 SS's had LT4's. They were all 30th anniv SS's

 

Orginaly posted by 1997whitez28
My brother lost the article but they compared the 97 Camaro to a DOHC 97 Cobra and they voted the Camaro as the fastest and greatest. They said that the LT1 SS had way more then 305 HP they said that they think that model had around 325- 330 HP. And it wasn't the LT4. Just a 97 LT1. The mag was from late 1996 or early 1997. I raced my buddy Dan after work and the DOHC sounds nasty but my LT1 walked past him on the highway and he said nothing to our boss after that.

Good thing I keep old magazines. It was in GM High TECH FEB, 2006.

1996 Mustang Cobra
4.6L DOHC V-8
305 hp at 5800 rpm
300 lb-ft at 4800 rpm
3.27 axle ratio
T45, 5 speed
14.09/100(radials)
13.80/103(3.73 gears)
13.62/103(3.73 gears,slicks)

1996 Camaro SS
5.7L OHV V-8
310 hp at 5500 rpm
335 lb-ft at 2400 rpm
3.42 axle ratio
T56, 6 speed
13.31/107(radials)

It says. The stock 285hp Lt1 is basically left alone during SS conversion, with a few important exceptions. The stock air inlet plumbing is yanked for an unrestricted cold-air package that pokes through the hood just above the intake manifold (RAM-AIR). The orginal cast iron exhaust manifolds are stripped in favor of the ported stock pieces. The factory oil is drained and replaced with a low friction synthetic. An optional low restriction exhaust system is also available to bump power antoher 5 hp. Which makes it 310 hp. It is 305 with out the exhaust.